Sarah Palin Defends Tea Party Against NAACP's Racism Charges

Sarah Palin lashed out on Tuesday at the NAACP for the group's allegations of racism within the Tea Party movement, saying that the charges were unjust and undeserved.

"I am saddened by the NAACP's claim that patriotic Americans who stand up for the United States of America's Constitutional rights are somehow 'racists,'" Palin wrote in a Facebook note.

"I know how Tea Party Americans feel to be falsely accused," she said. Palin pointed to a charge of racism levied against her in a "frivolous lawsuit" which was later dismissed. "To be unjustly accused of association with what Reagan so aptly called that "legacy of evil" is a traumatizing experience, and one of which the honest, freedom-loving patriots of the Tea Party movement are truly undeserving."

Palin added:

I just spent a few beautiful Alaskan days with some beautiful Americans in my husband's birthplace - they are Todd's family and they are Yupik Eskimo. In the decades that our families have blended, I have never heard one proud, patriotic member judge another member based on skin color. Both Todd and I were raised to measure a person according to their capacity and willingness to love, work, forgive, contribute, and show good character. We're joined by the vast majority of Americans in this belief whereby we measure a man by his character, not his color. Because of amazing efforts and accomplishments by those who came before my generation, it is foreign to us to consider condemning or condoning anyone's actions based on race or gender. Being with our diverse family in a melting pot that is a Native village just days ago reminded me of that.

On Tuesday, the NAACP passed a resolution denouncing what it sees as racism coming from tea party members.

UPDATE: On Fox News Tuesday night, Palin echoed the comments in her Facebook post, rejecting the notion that tea party members were racist.

"Any good American hates racism," she told host Sean Hannity.

Palin added:

"This is some typical divisive politics that is so absolutely unnecessary, especially at this time of turmoil within our country. Turmoil when you consider the state of the economy and so many other challenges that we are facing. This is just so unnecessary.

"No, the Tea Party Movement is a beautiful movement, full of diverse people, diverse backgrounds. Folks of all walks of life who, for the most part, happen to oppose President Obama's policies. Not the color of his skin. They don't care that he's half white or half black."

WATCH: Sarah Palin discuss the NAACP resolution (begins at the 7:00 mark):

Comments

[LewScannon]

09:19 PM on 07/20/2010

I like how Sarah constantly has to remind us she's from Alaska.

[LadyeCatte]

10:35 PM on 07/18/2010

Funny, I haven't heard Palin say a word since Mark Williams' letter went public or since J.T. Ready (white supremacist) started skulking around the Arizona border looking for brown people.

Her mouth is always flapping with nothing intelligible forthcoming, why not now? C'mon, Palin! Get back out there and talk about how its OBAMA's Administration creating the divisions! Talk about how Williams' letter was merely "satire" and once again state "we're not racists!"

Cheezy liar.

[Johnnyash]

07:36 PM on 07/18/2010

"They don't care that he's half white or half black."

Correct - they just care that he's not all-white...

[Daniel R Cobb]

07:28 PM on 07/18/2010

Shouldn't Michael Steele chime in with something brilliant right about now? Michael? Wassup? Cat got your tongue?

[Dee Turner]

04:17 PM on 07/16/2010

To "all non-people of color", I, a retired worker, who's worked since 16 yrs old, with siblings
and classmates of similar or still working, "PLEAD WITH YOU", TO TELL YOUR FAMILY,
FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS AND CHURCH COMMUNITIES, THE REBUPLICANS WITH HELP
MATES SARAH, HANITY, BECK, AND LIMBAURGH ARE PURPOSELY TRYING TO INCITE
A RACE WAR, FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF AVERTING YOUR ATTENTION TO FEARING
OF PEOPLE, WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO, NOR WERE IN THE OFFICES OF THE PEOPLE
IN CHARGE WHEN SENDING YOUR JOBS AWAY, STEALING YOUR MONEY FROM 401K,
AND OTHER FINANCIAL RESOURCES. RIGHT NOW, NON-PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE
BEING HELD HOSTAGE OF FOOD, RENT MONEY ECT... STAND WITH US! AND MARCH,
'"TOGETHER WE WILL TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!" FROM DIVERSIONARY TATICS

[siamao]

04:26 PM on 07/16/2010

Dude, I'm not gonna read anything in all-caps. If your message is so dang important,
then you need to follow convention and use capitals only where appropriate with
the rest lower case. You weaken any argument by "YELLING" with caps.

[BlackTantalus]

03:34 PM on 07/17/2010

A little paragraphing. A little punctuation. You know, the stuff most people are aware of by 3rd grade, even if the have trouble with perfect execution at age 8.

[DeanOfTomatoes]

04:53 PM on 07/16/2010

What is a "non-people of color"?

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

04:32 AM on 07/17/2010

I think it's like a virgin coloring book page.....
They're non people.....waiting to be colored....
?

[BlackTantalus]

03:35 PM on 07/17/2010

I'm a caucasionist and I can't figure that one out; maybe vampires or werewolves or zombies.

[despike]

03:20 PM on 07/16/2010

The new U.S.A
All the racist are now in the open, using the tea party movement as their platform. And when you point (what we all have seen and knew) out to their leaders you get accused of being the racist.
They want their country back. What do they really mean by that, anyway? Methink one of the things they really want back is a country where a black person cannot talk back to a white person no matter how stupid what he or she said is.
Glenn Beck is still ranting everyday about the POTUS calling the action of a police officer stupid.
Go figure.

[BlackTantalus]

03:39 PM on 07/17/2010

If a cop arresting a professor for the being black at home is not stupid, nothing stupid has ever happened. Actually, it was kidnapping, and the cop should have faced federal charges.

[Godfearing]

02:19 PM on 07/16/2010

Did Sarah Palin denounce (google.com) - THE MARK WILLIAMS LETTER?

[siamao]

04:27 PM on 07/16/2010

I don't know. What's that? You need to give a bit more info, dude.

[Takebackourmoney]

06:25 PM on 07/16/2010

http://www.delawareliberal.net/2010/07/15/tea-party-denies-claims-of-racism-and-then-writes-a-letter/

[Godfearing]

01:16 PM on 07/17/2010

Just google THE MARK WILLIAMS LETTER and the LOU PRITCHETT'S OPEN LETTER TO BARACK OBAMA. The racism stuff is all there!

[despike]

04:36 PM on 07/16/2010

No, you don't bite the finger that feeds you.

[ultra2010]

01:19 PM on 07/16/2010

Gallup Poll: Sarah Palin's 76% Favorable Among Republicans Tops Others in GOP

Results of a new Gallup poll show that among Republicans, Sarah Palin is the best known and highest rated of five potential candidates for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. The first woman to win the nomination of the Republican Party to be its vice presidential candidate earns a 76% favorable rating among the party faithful, first in a field which also includes:
Mike Huckabee = 65%
Newt Gingrich = 64%
Mitt Romney = 54%
Bobby Jindal = 45%

[DeanOfTomatoes]

04:58 PM on 07/16/2010

100% of educated americans think Palin is unqualified to hold any office above dog catcher.

[ChristopherJones]

03:36 PM on 07/17/2010

is it a coincidence the repubs are going after education?

[BlackTantalus]

03:44 PM on 07/17/2010

She shouldn't be allowed near a dog; she'd shoot it and claim it was a wolf, or a bear or a liberal.

[Sonia Vivar]

10:50 AM on 07/16/2010

"This is some typical divisive politics that is so absolutely unnecessary, especially at this time of turmoil within our country"....how ironic, considering teabaggers flamed the fire of hate !

[ChristopherJones]

03:39 PM on 07/17/2010

Look no further than those "terrorist" comments shouted during the 08 republican rallies.

[Sonia Vivar]

01:27 AM on 07/18/2010

ur right..I knew then, but hoped I was wrong. I just never thought it would get this ugly.

[RebeccaFransway]

08:49 AM on 07/16/2010

Like, see everyone! Todd being an Eskimo PROVES that the tea party has no racists in it toting signs with Obama in white face. This is SOOO boring. Whatever...

Chainsaw Carly

[jaschem1]

08:07 AM on 07/16/2010

Why haven't news media and Fox pulled up all Sarahs campaign tapes which proves she lit the fire and got all this hatred started.
You forgot one important issue. When Sarah Palin was stumping for McCain at all her rallies, she brought onstage bigots who bashed Obama, etc. and she did nothing to stop them. Go through all her rallies and see that she laid the seed and allowed them onstage to spurt hate.
Prove her a liar... we all saw it.

[siamao]

06:14 AM on 07/16/2010

IF THE BEAR PAW FITS, YOU GOTTA WEAR IT!
Alaskan writer Geoffrey Dunn, who's soon to publish a book on the lies of Sarah Palin, has a
must-read article in HuffPost (link below). An accompanying picture to Dunn's chilling
descriptions establishes the context for Palin's recent titillating hint about Mama Grizzlies
ready to stampede Washington. This is scary stuff, folks. Dunn's account of the Alaska
Bear Paw Parade near Wasilla describes adults wearing assault weapons and open sidearms
as children march alongside. Mama Grizzlies, indeed!

The SarahPAC support of Tea Party candidate Joe Miller against incumbent Lisa Murkowski
in the Republican primary is the context for the whoopla. Miller, described by Dunn as being to "the right of Attila the Hun", rides in his black Humvee, followed by "pot bellied supporters"
brandishing weapons. Even the less aggressive description of a Teddy Bear Parade fails to
soften this bellicose image of Palin's choice for Senatorial candidate to send to the
United States Senate!

We can't say she didn't warn us. As with any smug Sarah pronouncement--whether it's reload
or ready, aim, fire--she always gives us a tantalizing forewarning. And based on experience,
we know that the worse will be yet to come! Can we expect to see Sarah in beret and camouflage like an agent provocateur of Alaskan Tea Party militant extremism,
raising her fist in a Patty Hearst-type power salute? Wait and see.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/supporters-of-sarah-palin_b_648650.html

[Sundalecat]

01:43 AM on 07/16/2010

Oh really she thinks they are not racists. She needs to look in Mirror.

[Luv2Purple]

08:07 PM on 07/15/2010

“““World exclusive, NATIONAL ENQUIRER names Sarah Palin's secret lover!

Three members of the man’s family, one by sworn affidavit, claimed Sarah Palin had an extramarital affair with hus­band Todd’s former business partner, Brad Hanson. The affair nearly wrecked both marriages.

Hanson owned a snowmobile dealership with Palin’s husband Todd, who immediately dissolved the partnership after he heard stories the affair occurred around 1996 while Palin was mayor of Wasilla.

Palin de­nied cheating on her hus­band, and Hanson insisted to The NATIONAL ENQUIRER that he was never romantically in­volved with the 44-year-old Republican vice presiden­tial candidate.

However, Hanson family insider, Jim Burdett, on the record, passed a polygraph test, revealing de­tails of the affair to The NATIONAL ENQUIRER.

“I’ve known about Brad having had an affair for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently I learned his affair was with Sarah Palin,” Burdett told The NATIONAL ENQUIRER.

“Sarah was mayor of Wasilla, Brad became a city council member in the nearby town of Palmer, and they started an affair.

Another source, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, provided The NATIONAL ENQUIRER with a sworn affidavit attesting to the Palin-Hanson story.

“Todd was away on business a lot, Sarah felt lonely. Brad was a good listener, Sarah talked to him at length. Eventually, she real­ized she was falling in love with him.”

“When Todd got back from one of his trips, Sarah told him that she had begun to have feelings for Brad.””””

[Alex Young]

09:34 PM on 07/15/2010

who knew i would ever be grateful for the NATIONAL ENQUIRER .

(if the story is accurate)

[Alex Young]

09:45 PM on 07/15/2010

no,no,no!

let's see her spin this .

she will claim that the NATIONAL ENQUIRER accused all her supporters of having had affairs with brad.

[Jayk4444]

06:51 PM on 07/15/2010

NAACP President Ben Jealous said Thursday that the resolution passed by the group on Wednesday does not call the tea party "racist."

“We aren’t saying that the tea party is racist,” Jealous said. “What we’re saying is that with their increasing power comes an increasing responsibility to act responsibly ... and to call out when they see those things on those signs.”


Asked if he thought members of the tea party are racially insensitive, Jealous responded: “No, not at all.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39783.html#ixzz0tnJ3aeRy

[Alex Young]

09:40 PM on 07/15/2010

it is convenient for palin to attempt to avoid responsibility for HER racism by distorting the claim to include all tea partiers.

however, unlike palin and her party of the pathetic, we can read.

[GAYF]

10:58 AM on 07/17/2010

Because the press gives overwhelming attention to the Tea Party, it has given them a platform that has increased their numbers and influence.

"We can read," yes, but the mass media discounts thinkers to the margins of non-existence, while giving the know-nothings free coverage. We can not affect this dinosaur, easily.

How to devise plans that inform the mass media and minimize their power? A tremendous job. Murdock controls, and, except for a very few in journalism, the days of Edward R.Murrow are buried, with him. D&*(!

[egal]

11:43 PM on 07/15/2010

See, Palin isn't bright enough to comprehend the difference between being asked to condemn any racism that occurs and being called a racist. You know she only has enough mental acuity to latch onto one word or idea, and run with it in the most asinine way possible.

Hey, it seems to work for her--there are a whole lot of people who resent having women smarter than they are in politics, and I dont just mean men. She's their only option.

[Dr. Jonathan David Farley]

03:37 PM on 07/16/2010

The NAACP did condemn the Tea Party as racist. When there was push back, in true liberal style, the NAACP backed down. It's really quite embarrassing.